Curiosity
by violets92
Summary: ONESHOT. Elizabeth thinks about curiosity and the compass. Kind of Sparrabeth if you want to interpret it that way.


Okay, so my first POTC fic, and if my friend has anything to say about it, it won't be my last. She had to pull out some pretty convincing arguments to get me to write this. I was a bit worried it'd be OOC. Howver, I am pretty happy with it so I hope you like it.

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Elizabeth flipped open the absurd black compass that a certain rum-soaked pirate had leant her. It was broken. There was no other explanation to why it was pointing where it was. She took a deep breath to calm herself and roughly opened it again. After the needle had stopped spinning, she looked up and growled. Captain Jack Sparrow. Stupid compass. Elizabeth gave it another shake and tried again. Still Jack., for the umpteenth time. No. It was meant to be Will. The man she loved. Her fiancé. Hell, it was meant to be anything _other_ than Jack Sparrow. Why on Earth would she want _him_ for? Vaguely, Jack's voice entered the back of her mind.

Curiosity.

Elizabeth groaned. No. He was wrong.

It had been a sort of game between them at first. She hadn't taken it seriously. Neither had he really. She'd thought it ridiculous that she'd ever be curious as to what the freedom of piracy would taste like. She'd already lived like a pirate. All she wanted to do now was to go back to Port Royal, marry Will and see her father again. She was in no way curious whatsoever and she certainly did _not_, under any circumstances, want to see Jack Sparrow ever again, or anything else associated with the bloody captain. Especially not rum. Or the ridiculous broken instrument that she held in her hand.

She loved Will. She wanted _Will_. Not Jack. Will loved her. She loved him. Jack loved…the sea. That was all there was to it, right? She opened the compass again. Apparently not. Elizabeth closed her eyes in an effort not to scream. Norrington was right. The compass didn't work…in any sense of the word. It didn't point north, it didn't point south and it certainly didn't point to what she wanted most…which of course, was Will. Not Jack Sparrow. It must have some other meaning, like pointing to the thing you found most annoying in this world. That would work. She slammed the compass closed again and sighed in frustration.

"Problems with the compass Luv?" No. Not him. Bloody hell, he picked the most inconvenient times to show up. Elizabeth closed her eyes in an effort to block out the man standing in front of her. Couldn't he leave her alone for once?

"It doesn't work." Jack stood back and feigned insult.

"I already told you. It works fine."

"Then why isn't it pointing to Will?"

"I don't know. Pointless asking me. I'm not you." He looked her up and down. "I have different parts." Elizabeth scowled and glared at him.

"Forget it. I knew you'd be no help." She pushed past him and made for the other side of the ship. Jack shrugged and began to walk away.

"Get what it's pointing to and then try again." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. There was no way in hell that was going to happen.

She opened the compass for, what had to be the hundredth time since it had been given to her. This time, the needle didn't even need to hesitate before pointing to Jack. She groaned. This was not how it was supposed to go. It was _supposed_ to point straight to wherever Will was. Still, no matter how many times she'd told it what to point to, it continued to point to the captain of the Black Pearl.

"_Will_. Point to Will Turner." She opened it again and shut it. It still wasn't working.

"No point in telling it what to point to Luv." God, she wished he'd stop calling her that. Whatever happened to him walking away anyway?

"Well then how am I meant to get it to work?"

"I already _told_ you. It does work. It works perfectly." Elizabeth crossed her arms and turned to face him. Jack put on an innocent look…well as innocent as a pirate could be. "Your heart clearly must have realised you don't want to be with a eunuch anymore. I commend you on finally coming to your senses."

"Oh stop it! You're enjoying this! Quit being an insufferable idiot and help me!" Jack gasped and put a hand to his chest.

"I'm not going to help you if you keep using that language!"

"Jack…"

"_Captain_ Jack, and as I've told you many times before, I can't help you. Not unless I know what the compass is pointing to."

"No!" She glared. Jack frowned and leaned closer.

"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do." Elizabeth gave him a look. "Alright, so maybe I do, but we still won't have a heading unless we know where the Flying Dutchman is, and since the compass can't tell you what you need to know in order to tell us where we're headed to save young William, I can't give orders like a captain is meant to."

"Well then, I can't help you. You'll have to find some other way." And with that, she took the compass and headed for the crew's hammocks.

She could vaguely hear Jack groaning in the background, but there was no way she was telling him what the idiotic compass was pointing to. The thing was wrong. Jack wasn't what she wanted most, and even if, God forbid, in the slightest chance, he was what she wanted, Elizabeth was sure it was just a passing feeling. It wasn't as if she loved Jack. No. She loved Will. Will Turner. The man she'd known since she was ten. The man who she intended to marry back at Port Royal. The man that was the complete opposite of Jack Sparrow. How could the stupid compass possibly suggest that she wanted Jack? As she looked down at the compass, her head gave her the answer.

One word.

Curiosity.

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A/N: Reviews make my day. 


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